Abdulla Al-Marri, senior project engineer for the Al Wakrah Precinct, said: “We have started laying the foundation of 168 m3 of structural concrete in our east slab. For this, we are using two pumps that work simultaneously, doubling the usual speed.

“This is an important achievement, being the first above-ground casting of concrete at the site which will incorporate the structural elements to begin vertical construction.”

The company said that 55 of 84 piles have been sunk, with each one measuring around 19m in length and 1.2m in diameter.

The first of the piles was put into place in December – 12 months after architect Zaha Hadid’s design for the stadium was unveiled, with Aecom providing supervision services. Since then, preparoty works have been completed by Amana Steel Buildings and enabling works have been carried out by local firm HBK Contracting.

The latter has clocked up more than one million hours of work without a lost-time incident.

Al Marri said: “We observe that all safety measures are in place before works starts and we reward safety practices every month.”

Once the tournament completes, the stadium will be reduced in size to 20,000 seats and used by the Al Wakrah Sports Club. It will sit within a 560,000 m2 precinct that will also house a new sports centre, community hub, a park, mosque, school, hotel, wedding hall, vocational training centre and retail outlets.